Janelle's Bridal Shower

Janelle had her last bridal shower this weekend. It was given by our Aunt Kathy, Aunt Mary, Cousin Courtney, Cousin Lindsay, and Mamaw. Courtney's house was just beautiful and perfect for the occasion! Janelle had lots of good friends and family there and we enjoyed many laughs the whole day long! Tessa was really good, she went without a nap but stayed happy for the whole thing. She even let some "strangers" hold her which is a big accomplishment!! I can't believe how grown up she looks in these pics.

This pic shows how much Tessa, me, and my Mom all look alike!

Sitting all by herself

Every bride needs a Coach wristlet!

What a cute beautiful bride.

New House Update!

We have all settled in awesome at the new house, in only a few days it was already feeling like home! We've officially closed on our old house which is a huge relief and now we only own 1 house which is good. :)

Tessa is loving her new bedroom. She's taken up to a 3 1/2 hour nap, and for those of you who know her this is amazing. I was lucky to get 1 hour from her at the old house. I think being upstairs and away from the main living area is the biggest reason, but I'm loving it and she is finally getting the rest she needs.

The other child (Zayne) is also settling in pretty well. He had to get used to the stairs, the first couple days he would go up and down every time we did, but now he will only go when necessary. We are taking him to get his nails cut and get plastic tips put on them because he is scratching our hardwoods.

We are so happy to have the space we have here, the neighbors have all been really friendly, we will be able to go to the pool this summer and hopefully Tessa and Mommy can meet some new friends!

Look What I Can Do....

We've been really behind on posting pictures...as many of you know we are in the middle of moving to our new house so it's been a bit busy. Tessa is growing and changing as usual so before we officially move tomorrow and don't have internet for a few days I wanted to post some pics of her around 6 months old doing all her new big girl things!

Over the last couple weeks she is learning all kinds of new sounds, no official words, but I bet we'll hear something by 7 months!! She has this soft little raspy voice and she'll say ahhhh, it melts your heart! She will mostly only say it to Zayne who could care less though. :)

After her 6 month check-up we were given the o.k. to start trying a sippy cup. She knows right where to bring it, but not too sure how to drink out of it.

At first it was mostly just a teether, but know after a week and a half she will suck it if you show her how to first. Right now I've just been putting water in it and she'll pretty much spit it out.

She is still in love with her walker...we put it on the wood floors and she makes her way all around the room. Her new favorite thing it to get close enough to something and grab it. She will dance back and forth and get really excited. Here she is trying open a mother's day present. :) And also if you take something away from her that she wants she will growl and then throw a tantrum.....we are in for it I can tell. :)

She has tried most of the baby foods in the jar and we are now moving to Stage 2 foods. We've also been experimenting with some other things here and there. Dan finally found teething biscuits which she is a big fan of....but they're very messy and she has to go straight to the tub afterward. The other day I was eating a banana and she was so focused watching me, so I broke it in half and let her have it. I thought maybe she'd just hold it or lick it....

well.....

She immediately bit off a big hunk and looked at me like "what? I already know how to do this Mom!"

(she has a little cold, so her eyes are puffy and her cheeks are red here)

We've been consistently working on tummy time and sitting up and she is making major progress....it just shows if you give it a little attention on a daily basis they will learn it quickly

Today she was doing this....pulling her legs all the way up and pushing on her hands. She still has to put her face down on the floor when she does it, but then she'll straighten out her legs and inch forward!! Yeah!! She moved a good 2 feet across the floor doing this. I will try to catch a picture of her sitting up because she can do it on her own now for a little bit.

So, I will post again as soon as we get internet back up and I have a chance! We can't wait to have visitors at our new house!

6 Months Old

Tessa is 6 months old today. We had her doctor check-up this morning and everything is great.

She weighed in at 16lbs 11 ozs (75th percentile)

She is 27 inches tall (90th percentile)

The doctor said that she is acting more like a 9 month old developmentally than a 6 month old. :) She can roll from both ways, sit with a little support, and pull herself to a standing position by holding onto only 2 of your fingers. She said that she'll probably be walking into her 9 month appointment. Yikes!!

Her favorite things to do are "walk" around in her car walker, dance dance dance all the time, eat, pick up toys and throw them down only to pick them up again, and take walks in her stroller with Zayne. She is completely in love with him, her face lights up whenever he walks into the room. We have also been dealing with some stranger anxiety; she knows her Mommy and Daddy and definitely has a preference for us. She also doesn't want for me to leave her sight during the day, not even to go around the corner where she can't see me.

We have some new things to work on now that she is 6 months old. We are going to try to drop her night time nursing sessions (only 1-2) and work on trying to get her to go to sleep on her own :) We are going to start adding in a lunchtime meal and space out nursing sessions to 4 hours during the day. Otherwise we're right on track!

Avocado

We've been working on solids over the last few weeks and Tessa is loving it. We haven't found anything she doesn't like yet. We started with oatmeal, rice, and stage 1 baby foods; her faves are peas, apples, and sweet potatoes. Then over the last week we've been letting her get her hands on some other things. She will be 6 months this week and so she can begin moving onto new flavors and textures. She has chewed on a chuck of a baguette, celery stick, and a cucumber slice. We've also used the little feeding bags with bananas and in these pictures she is eating an avocado in the bag. Messy...but she LOVES IT!